Threats, intimidation, assassinations and massacres have forced about 3.5 million Colombians to flee their homes and relocate to other areas in the country - writes Gladys Terichow of Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), the North American peace church relief and development organisation.

Handmade quilted wall hangings by Mennonite and Amish women from the USA are part of what the delegation of thirteen American Christian leaders will be carrying with them next week, during their peace-making visit to Iran.

While diplomatic and military rhetoric in the exchanges between the United States and Iranian senior politicians remains heated, thirteen Christian leaders from the USA are preparing for a visit to Iran next week (17-25 February 2007) ‚Ä' with the aim of building bridges rather than stoking conflict.

Peacemakers are helping communities resolve differences and recover from violence in Sudan's Darfur region despite a devastating four-year-old war that has killed hundreds of thousands of civilians and is continuing to escalate - writes Tim Shenk of Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), the North American peace church development organisation.

The peace churches that together constitute the North American relief and development agency Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) are putting money and effort into post-war reconstruction in the Lebanon. But what is most required is an end to the conflict that has fuelled human misery in recent months, its on-the-ground partners say.

A North American peace church aid and development organization which opposed the US war with Vietnam in the 1960s and 70s, and has continued to build positive relations ever since, is providing 30,000 US dollars worth of help to communities affected by Typhoon Xangsane in the central region of the country.

While a devastating armed conflict continues in western Sudan's Darfur region, the people of southern Sudan are beginning to recover from a 21-year civil war, according to Rob Haarsager, a country representative of Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), the internationally respected North American peace church aid and development agency.

Mennonites in the Democratic Republic of Congo are relieved that their country successfully held national elections this year after decades of corrupt dictatorship and two recent wars - writes Tim Shenk.